We often use the term “super cooler” in our reviews to denote the most efficient air-based cooling system that is capable of handling an overclocked CPU without producing much noise. But after our tests of the exquisite Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB Toxic Edition we are now thinking whether we should introduce the term “super graphics card” which would denote a product with unprecedented performance and unique features.

After browsing through the websites of the major graphics card makers, we can infer that the Gigabyte product is the fastest single-GPU graphics card available today and may remain such until the next generation of Nvidia and AMD GPUs. We're most excited to test it, so let's get started.

Package and Accessories

The product packaging is eye-catching with the shiny words “Super Over Clock” on its front.

The graphics card's features are described on the back. That's quite an interesting read, by the way. The external colorful wrapper envelops a cardboard box that contains the graphics card and its accessories.

The accessories include everything you need to use the product:

PATA → 6-pin PCIe power adapter;

PATA → 8-pin PCIe power adapter;

DVI → D-Sub adapter;

1.8 m HDMI cable;

CD disk with drivers and utilities;

Manual.

Being a top-end graphics card, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SuperOverclock is quite expensive at $519. Besides the card and accessories this money buys you a 3-year warranty. The card is manufactured in Taiwan.